Constituency : Rochdale 1865-95
Thomas had the task of following in the shoes of Richard Cobden when the latter died in April 1865. He had been a close friend and follower of his predecessor. He was unopposed at the subsequent general election.
Thomas was the son of a former Unitarian Mayor of Manchester and head of Manchester's largest mercantile business. His elder brother had been an MP for Manchester defeating John Bright in 1857. He was educated at Rugby and University College, London. In 1863 he founded and presided over the Union and Emancipation Society promoting the Northern cause in the UK. He intended to present Abraham Lincoln with a prestigious two volume of Robert Burns but had to give it to his son after the assassination.
Thomas acquired the not entirely flattering nickname of "Principles Potter" in the House. He established the Cobden Club in 1866 to promote Liberal ideas but particularly the defence of Free Trade. He was a personal friend of Garibaldi. He took up the cause of parliamentary reform and was a strong supporter of Mill. He was one of the larger MPs at eighteen stone. He supported land law reform and religious equality. He supported Gladstone and voted for Home Rule despite earlier reservations.
Thomas and the Cobden Club were particularly active in resisting the idea of fair trade and impeding its hold on the newly enlarged rural electorate in 1885. His visit to the US promoting free trade in 1879 was largely counter-productive. Gladstone recognised the Club's work at a presentation dinner in 1890.
Thomas stood down through ill-health in 1895.
Thomas took vacations at Cobden's old house at Midhurst and he was staying there when he died after suffering a paralytic stroke aged 80 in 1898.
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